2: Introduction Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization in North Africa around the Nile River and the Nile River Valley. From about 3,000 B.C. for almost 3,000 years, powerful pharaohs, like Cleopatra and King Tut, ruled over the people and contributed to a successful civilization. Besides creating a society based on agriculture, pharaohs, and gods, the Ancient Egyptians made many significant achievements in art, agriculture, math, and writing.

3: Daily Life Life in ancient Egypt was based around the Nile River. Time was occupied with worshiping the gods and goddesses with rites, rituals, and ceremonies. Most Egyptians grew up with family, in one-roomed, mud brick houses in a village or countryside. They owned small parts of land to grow their own food on, and traded for food and supplies they didn't have. Egyptians worked as field hands, farmers, craftsman, or scribes. Few people were nobles, or people appointed by the Pharaohs, and helped the Pharaoh rule other parts of the empire. Women were highly regarded in Egypt. Women could own land, testify in court, and conduct parts of business. Queen Hatsheput and Cleopatra ruled as Pharaohs.

4: In the fields, ancient Eyptians grew mostly wheat and barley. They made the wheat into bread, soup, porridge, and added hops to the barley to make beer. The people ate meat, but only lamb, beef, duck, and goose because they thought pigs carried diseases. They also ate dates and grew other crops like watermelon.

6: The Pharaohs In ancient Egypt, the people were ruled by Pharaohs. Pharaohs were religious and political leaders of their land. They made laws, collected taxes, owned land, and defended against attacks and invaders. Pharaohs represented the gods of the Earth, and throughout Egyptian history over 170 Pharaohs ruled for almost 3,000 years. There is not much information about the first Pharaohs who ruled, but because of tombs and ancient writings, information on the most important Pharaohs is available.

7: .Tutankamen, or King Tut, was called the boy king, and ruled until he was 18. HIs tomb was discovered in 1922. .Ramses II had over 100 children. He built more statues and temples than any other Pharaoh. .Queen Hatsheput ruled over 20 years and expanded trade. She also built temples. .Clepatra was the last Pharaoh of Egypt. She was know for intelligence and political skill.

8: Gods & Goddesses The people of ancient Egypt believed in many gods. The Pharaohs built temples to worship the gods; rites, rituals, and ceremonies were a big part of daily life for all Egyptians. Each god had a specific responsibility: some were responsible for creation, some caused the Nile to flood each year, others gave protection, and some took care of the people after they had died. There were also local gods who represented towns. Minor gods represented plants and animals. Ancient Egypt had official state gods like Horus and Osiris, and other everyday gods that people worshiped in their homes for things such as childbirths, snake bites, and crocodile attacks.

9: Some of the important state gods included: . Amon Re- King of the gods . Ra- The sun god . Anubis- God of embalming the dead . Horus- God of the sky and protector of the rulers of Egypt . Isis- Protective goddess to help people in need . Osiris- God of the dead and ruler of the underworld . Seth- God of chaos in Egypt

10: The pyramids are big tombs built for pharaohs and their queens. Pyramids were called "houses of eternity" and were built on the west bank of the Nile because the sun set or "died" on the western horizon every night. There are about eighty pyramids known today in Egypt, the three largest and best preserved were built in Giza. The most well-known pyramid in Giza was the "Great Pyramid", built for a pharaoh named Khufu. Khufu built his son, Khafra, a pyramid protected by the Great Sphinx, or a human headed lion carved from a mound of natural rock. Still, people today, wonder how the Egyptians built these huge pyramids. Many archaeologists believed it took hundreds of men and at least twenty years to built one pyramid. | The Pyramids

11: Egyptians were able to create the beautiful, but huge pyramids by following these steps: | 1. Large blocks of stone were cut from quarries and dragged across the desert. 2. After the first level of blocks were put down, workers built ramps of mud-brick, limestone, and clay. Then they dragged the large stones to the next level. 3. The ramps were built up around the pyramid as each level was being built. 4. When the pyramid was almost finished, a block covered in gold was placed on the top. 5. Finally, blocks of white limestone were placed to cover the whole pyramid and make to ook smooth.

12: Contributions The ancient Egyptians made many contributions in math, architecture, art, and writing. Because the flow of the Nile was so important for farming and irrigation, the Egyptians came up with ways to measure the flood waters using a calendar and a Nilometer, a set of steps and a long,sturdy pole that measured how high the waters were. They also discovered ways to move water from the Nile to farms in the desert using irrigation pumps and canals. The development of the pyramids shows knowledge of geometry and engineering. Because of their skill, we now see patterns in math, art, and materials. The ancient Egyptians also created written scripts to record information. The most famous is hieroglyphics.